[March 25, 2014]DENVER (Reuters) — Divers have found
the bodies of five people in a small plane that plunged into a reservoir
in southwestern Colorado, but their remains will not be recovered until
specialized salvage crews arrive, authorities said on Monday.

The single-engine Socata TBM700 crashed on Saturday into the
Ridgway Reservoir about 25 miles south of Montrose, Colorado.

"Rescue operation divers have been successful in locating all
five victims inside the wreckage of the plane," Ouray County
spokeswoman Marti Whitmore said in a statement.

Whitmore said the plane is upside down and submerged under at
least 50 feet of water amid deep silt.

"Due to the extensive damage and orientation of the wrecked
plane, divers cannot safely recover any of the victims until the
wreckage can be brought to shore," she said.

Divers found the fuselage on Sunday and reported it was intact
with the wings still attached, Whitmore said, and on Monday
divers with a remote camera confirmed the victims are inside the
aircraft.

The plane was registered to an Alabama corporation and was en
route to Montrose after a refueling stop in Bartlesville,
Oklahoma, authorities said.

Colorado authorities have not identified the victims, but news
outlets in Alabama reported the victims include an Alabama
businessman, a woman, her two young sons and a third boy.

The National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal
Aviation Administration are investigating the crash.

(Reporting by Keith Coffman in Denver;
editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Lisa Shumaker)